Learning Forward
Equity and excellence in teaching and learning.
WHAT THE STUDY SAYS Teacher discourse patterns about students’ learning in mathematics reflect teachers’ beliefs and expectations about student learning. These beliefs have the capacity to limit or enhance a teacher’s instructional agency. This study focused on professional development as a vehicle for changing teacher thinking and examines discourse patterns as a viable indicator of how teachers think about student learning changes over time. How teachers think about students as learners affects teachers’ expectations of and their interactions with students. This study demonstrates that professional development has some potential to transform teacher discourse patterns. Study Description Researchers examined how teachers’ discourse patterns as measured by speech acts and storylines changed over a yearlong, 60-hour professional development program. The study demonstrates that some storylines about students
Read the remaining content with membership access. Join or log in below to continue.
Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam, eaque ipsa quae ab illo inventore veritatis et quasi architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam voluptatem quia voluptas sit aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia consequuntur magni dolores eos qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt. Neque porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora incidunt ut labore et dolore magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem.
Researchers examined 322 speech actions that led to collective discourse, studied the discourse segments that followed the speech actions, and hypothesized what storylines emerged as principles of conventions in the discourse.
Over time, teachers began to use a storyline that identified student age/grade as well as the influence of prior experiences, opportunities to learn, and other influences on students as learners of mathematics.
References
Darling-Hammond, L., Wei, R.C., Andree, A., Richardson, N., & Orphanos, S. (2009). Professional learning in the learning profession: A status report on teacher development in the United States and abroad. Dallas, TX: National Staff Development Council.
Learning Forward. (2011). Standards for Professional Learning. Oxford, OH: Author.
Joellen Killion is a senior advisor to Learning Forward and a sought-after speaker and facilitator who is an expert in linking professional learning and student learning. She has extensive experience in planning, design, implementation, and evaluation of high-quality, standards-based professional learning at the school, system, and state/provincial levels. She is the author of many books including Assessing Impact, Coaching Matters, Taking the Lead, and The Feedback Process. Her latest evaluation articles for The Learning Professional are “7 reasons to evaluate professional learning” and “Is your professional learning working? 8 steps to find out.”
CURRENT ISSUE
Subscribe
Recent Issues
LEARNING TO PIVOT
August 2024
Sometimes new information and situations call for major change. This issue...
GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES
June 2024
What does professional learning look like around the world? This issue...
WHERE TECHNOLOGY CAN TAKE US
April 2024
Technology is both a topic and a tool for professional learning. This...
EVALUATING PROFESSIONAL LEARNING
February 2024
How do you know your professional learning is working? This issue digs...
